Do all Blue Crane pairs have two chicks?
At what age do they get those lovely long secondary feathers?
How old where the approx.30cm high chicks I saw?
How on earth does such a tall bird feed those tiny chicks?

Last edited by Jay on Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hi Jay
Blue cranes on the norm lay two eggs, every now and then 3 are laid but very seldom are 3 born. Normally 2 are laid and very often only 1 survives.
As far as the age of the secondaries and how old the 30cm chicks are I can't help you there.
As far as feeding goes Cranes have the the ability to bend their knees 90 degree the opposite way to us humans can and can therefore get down very low (Normally only when resting), they also simply bend their long necks down and feed cicks that way.

Hereis some interesting reading material for those wanting to read more about this endagered species.

I do unfortunately not have all ther answers to your questions, but I have emailed A blue crane specialist in the Overberg to ask his help on your questions. And will let you know as soon as I hear something from him.

Something interesting I read...

Two young are often reared together, which is surprising. In captivity, recently hatched crane chicks show an astonishing level of aggression that will lead to mortality if they are not separated. This behaviour dissipates after a week or so and is similar to the siblicide (or 'Cainism') shown by some of the larger birds of prey. In the wild, keeping the small chicks mobile may circumvent the problem: the young are led away from the nest virtually immediately after hatching. 'Brood-splitting', another feature of some rallids, whereby each parent takes responsibility for one of the young, may also be involved as a solution. But why this innate killer instinct is present at all still requires explanation. Blue Cranes will protect their young with startling distraction displays, spreading their wings and feigning injury, like giant plovers. They are apparently also fearless in attacking medium-sized predators, such as dogs, that threaten their families, and their rapier-sharp bills are not to be trifled with.

An interesting fact about Blue Crane chicks is that they atually call from within the egg up to 24 hours before they break through the shell. I don't know how they manage this but it is a well documented fact.

Thanx everyone you've shed some lotsa light on the subject.
Ofcourse I am going to look out for the little chicks(3wks old) and the bigger ones(5-6wks old), but will most likely not see them again as the wheat fields are huge areas , but reckon I was very lucky to see the two lots within a few days of one another!

It may sounds like bragging - but I was fortunate enough to see two (wild) blue cranes walking among the fynbos behind our house this morning. I've heard them on numerous occasion when flying over (and saw them in the air). But this morning was the first time that we actually saw them in the veld behind our house.

Was very exited to spot my first wild Blue Cranes on Monday on returing from the North Coast.

Between Utrecht and Newcastle I spotted the birds in a mealie-field. My husband had to make a U-turn on a very narrow and busy road and was of course not at all impressed, but it was all worth it! They were quite a long way off, but through the binoculars we counted 15 birds!

My SO and I went out looking intensely for them in the Midlands Meander(a very good pozzie to find them at) earlier this year, but to no avail. I only have the crowned crane and the blue crane. The wattled crane still eludes me.

Ah! With the current weather here there are tons of birds enjoying a drink at the terraces, and me enjoying the eh... sights! The Dutch girls are the most beautifull in the world!

But I can also brag about seeing the Blue crane in the wild. Unfortunately I was at the time taking panoramic photos, so did not have my long lens with me. But even with 105 mm they are easy to see in my photos, and IDable. (New word, 11 times wordvalue.)

Not posting much here anymore, but the photo's you can follow here There is plenty there.

Feel free to use any of these additional letters to correct the spelling of words found in the above post: a-e-t-n-d-i-o-s-m-l-u-y-h-c

The first time a saw our national bird in the wild was in Etosha National Park in Namibia; a bit disturbing that thought - but a nice citing anyway. The Blue Crane population there is isolated (i.e. its the only place in Namibia where they are resident) and consist of 60 to 80 birds. [/img]